More Landcruiser Work

Here's another installment of my work on the Landcruiser.

Lately I've been focusing on cosmetics. I want to do a little to update its look and hopefully turn a few heads.

The three main eyesores that I'm trying to correct are 1) cracked fiberglass fender flares, 2) rusty running boards, and 3) shabby looking door molding.

Here are some pics of the current state. I've removed the running boards for rust removal & painting and I've also been working on some of the fender flare pieces. In this first picture you'll see that I took off the piece on the rear door-it was easier to work on it that way.

On the other side, the fender flare is MUCH more difficult to remove so I left it on to work on it. In these pictures you can also see the side molding. It may look nice from a distance, but the chrome accents are flaking off and after seeing other Landcruisers without the molding, it's going.


Here is the repaired fender flare piece that was missing from the first picture. It's not going to get painted again. The fender flares are getting coated with Monstaliner, a roll-on bed liner.

Here are some running board pictures. The running boards are metal with a plastic cap piece. In those nasty Utah winters, ice and salt would get trapped between and rot away the metal. Here's an example. There are some places where the top of the running board is rusted through, but since there's a cap I didn't worry about it.

I cleaned it up real good with a grinder and wire wheel. (Always nice to have an excuse to buy a new tool.) After cleaning it I washed it and let it dry. To help take care of the rust I painted it with Hammerite which inhibits rust and forms a protective coating. It usually comes in a "hammer" finish, thus the name, but I wanted the gloss. I think it turned out pretty good.


Finally, we come to the door molding removal. This has been a learning experience because I had no idea how to get this off. It's a dealer installed option so i was hoping it would come off pretty easy. I read on a forum that I should "saw" it off with floss. I tried that and it wasn't working very well. In the end I just pried it off. Looks pretty nasty underneath.

Not to worry, though, after only a few minutes of rubbing with some goo-gone I had made significant progress.

I'll keep you posted.